Union of Concerned Scientists Pushes
Fuel Efficiency at Expense of Auto Safety; Misleads Public about
Vulnerability of Nuclear Plants to Terrorism

DATE: February 8, 2002

BACKGROUND: The Union of Concerned Scientists (UCS)
released a report on February 2, 2002 claiming that our nuclear
power plants are vulnerable to terrorist attack and saying that
increasing domestic oil production won't lessen our dependence
on foreign oil. It contends that the most secure way to protect
the U.S. economy from oil price shocks is to increase fuel efficiency.

TEN SECOND RESPONSE: Nuclear physicists point out that
our nuclear power plants are quite resistant to terrorist attacks.

THIRTY SECOND RESPONSE: The UCS is trying to frighten
Americans about nuclear power. Nuclear reactor vessels are surrounded
by a containment vessel, and each are made of several feet of
concrete and steel. Even if a large airliner crashed directly
into the reactor, which would require incredibly precise targeting
by the pilot, the reactor vessel is unlikely to be breached. And
while fuel efficiency is desirable, corporate average fuel economy
standards imposed to promote fuel efficiency indirectly have killed
Americans by forcing manufacturers to produce lighter, less crashworthy
vehicles.

DISCUSSION: A study written by physicists Gerald Marsh
and George Stanford for The National Center for Public Policy
Research, National Policy Analysis #374: "Terrorism
and Nuclear Power: What are the Risks?" shows that nuclear
power plants are well protected against a variety of potential
threats posed by terrorists. The paper is available at http://www.nationalcenter.org/NPA374.html.
Marsh and Stanford show how nuclear power plants are protected
against threats including, but not limited to, car bombings, airplane
crashes and small-arms assaults.

Fuel efficiency standards, known as Corporate Average Fuel
Economy standards, or CAFE, were mandated by law in 1975. A 2002
study by the National Academy of Sciences shows that if cars had
weighed the same in 1993 as they did in 1976, an estimated 2,000
deaths would have been avoided in that year alone. In addition,
that lower car weight in 1993 was responsible for 13,000 to 26,000
incapacitating injuries and 97,000 to 195,000 total injuries.
The report goes on to say that "any increase in CAFE could
produce additional road casualties." The NAS study is available
at http://books.nap.edu/books/0309076013/html/index.html.